Background
Molina grew up as one of ten children in the Los Angeles suburb of Pico Rivera, California, United States, to a Mexican-American father and Mexican mother.
Molina grew up as one of ten children in the Los Angeles suburb of Pico Rivera, California, United States, to a Mexican-American father and Mexican mother.
She attended public schools in her hometown, and attended Rio Hondo College, East Los Angeles College and California State University, Los Los Angeles
While attending college, she worked full-time as a legal secretary. Then she became certified as an adult education instructor and taught clerical skills at the East Los Angeles Skills Center. She was first elected to office in 1982 as State Assemblywoman for the 56th District.
In 1987, she was elected to the Los Angeles City Council where she served as the Councilwoman of the First District until 1991.
In February 1991, she was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, representing the First Supervisorial District. Mississippi Molina is the first Latina in history to be elected to the California State Legislature, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Prior to being elected to public office, Molina served in the Carter White House as a Deputy for Presidential Personnel. After leaving the White House, she served in San Francisco as a Deputy Director for the Department of Health and Human Services.
As city councilwoman, she found government unresponsive to her concerns of yet another proposal to build a prison near schools in the predominantly Chicano and Mexican neighborhood.
In April 2006, Molina was honored as the "Hispanic Business Woman of the Year" by Hispanic Business magazine. In April 2008, Molina introduced legislation to the Board of Supervisors which would severely increase penalties on food vendors in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, including East Los Angeles The new rules would punish parking of a food truck for more than 1 hour with a $1000 fine and/or six months in jail. This move is specifically targeted at vendors operating taco trucks, a cultural institution in East Los Angeles as well as the county as a whole.
Newspaper editorials decried the move, and a petition was quickly set up to attempt to force a repeal of the legislation.
The taco vendors have also hired a lawyer to fight their cause. In June 2010, Molina voted yes with two other Los Angeles County supervisors to boycott Arizona because of Bachelor of Science 1070.
Molina claims in her statement that “This law simply goes too far,” said Gloria Molina, the boycott’s primary sponsor. “A lot of people have pointed out that I am sworn as an Los Angeles County supervisor to uphold the Constitution.
All I can say is that I believe that Arizona’s law is unconstitutional.”
Molina is separated from Ron Martinez, a businessman.
They have one daughter, Valentina Gloria Molina Martinez.
Board of directors East Los Angeles Red Cross, since 1982. Member Comision Femenil Mexicana Nacional, Public Interest Law Foundation (board directors since 1982).
